The whole point of free speech is not to make ideas exempt from criticism but to expose them to it.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Let's not let the government get between doctors and their patients .

A friend sent me this, back channel:

JULY 26, 2009

“ I believe that my healthcare decisions should be between me, my insurance company plan, my insurance company’s list of approved doctors I am allowed to see and treatments I am allowed to get, my insurance company’s claims department, the insurance company doctors who have never met me, spoken to me or even personally looked at my files, my own preexisting conditions, my insurance company’s crack cost-review and retroactive cancellation and denial squads, my insurance company’s executives and board of directors, my insurance company’s profit requirements, the shareholders, my employer, and my doctor."

It begs the question, of course: Tim Johnson, Stephanie Herseth, and John Thune, what's so great about insurance companies, and the health care system we have now? Another good friend (Republican... can you believe it?) has a pretty interesting Health Care plan that's worth taking a look at. I'm working on nailing down a few specifics with him before I post it here.

I am a proud veteran. Although I don't use the VA medical system, many people do. A recent non-partisan report showed the VA has the best continuum of care at the lowest overall cost. Why is it okay for veterans to have excellent health care paid for by the federal government, but not everyone else ?

Moderator

Bob Newland posts topics to this forum. The Forum is based in Rapid City, So. Dak., so local references are almost always in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

A Creed

Politics was defined in an essay by the incomparable Lewis Lapham, at the time managing editor of Harper's magazine. He said, Politics is the continuous argument over who gets to do what to whom, for how long, and against what degree of dissent. It has yet to be said better.